Seeing Through to Truth
by Shantel Lukasik
Summary: Collette Hauville is trying to win this year's tournaments for her best friend's family in place of her now deceased brother. But things get hard when the two girls befriend Will and his friends. Especially since Geoff is suspicious. Geoff/OC Wat/OC
1. Chapter 1

"You don't have to do this. Griffin is _gone_. Please, let's just go home!"

Collette looked down from her horse. Her hand maid, best friend, and almost-had-been sister-in-law looked up at her pleadingly. Shaking her head, they continued down the dirt path. The pair carried only what they could hold while walking or riding horseback. That meant that Colette was outfitted in body armor with a halberd strapped to her back. Her quarter stallion, Duke, had their money and provisions in bags connected to his saddle. Collette had gone all out on necessities when she'd made her decision. The one thing she regretted most was cutting her hair to her shoulders. She had almost gone shorter, but she decided men who had longer hair tied their hair back, so she could manage that as well.

"You still look like a girl," Ava complained.

The noblewoman smiled.

"I can still pass as an effeminate male. And the fact that I am lacking in large breasts works in my favor."

Ava gave a loud laugh in response.

"Is that how you cope with never having married? Why don't we go back home and you can find a nice husband?"

Collette glared down at her. The older woman smiled and patted the horse.

"I don't mean to sound rude. You're twenty-seven now and deserve to find love."

"Yes, but you're thirty, found it, and then lost it. I've heard you crying at night. It hurts. I miss Griffin as well."

Ava sighed and surveyed the countryside.

"Yes, but I still have hope of finding someone else. Love happens again. And Griffin told me that when he got sick. He wanted me to find someone else to take care of me. Honestly, Collette, my parents will do fine without you doing the jousting tournaments this year. Yes, you're incredible with a halberd, but you've never tried jousting!"

"My brother got through half of this tournament already, the least I can do for his memory is attempt to win the tournament. He taught me how to use a halberd in the first place! This was meant to happen! Jousting…well, that is just a side thing."

Ava was about to protest when she noticed a company coming up behind them. The conversation died. They didn't want anyone to suspect Collette was a woman. If word got out that she was parading around as her brother, she would be executed without mercy. Collette glanced behind at Ava's silence and her heart skipped a beat.

"Ava, its Sir William Thatcher! The man who won the tournament last year. I didn't know that he was competing!"

The older woman snickered.

"Wanna quit now?"

"Of course not…Maybe we should pick up our pace? I don't feel like-"

Ava suddenly yelped and went tumbling down the grassy slope on the side of the hill.

"Ava!"

Collette jumped off of Duke and followed her down the slope. The armor made it difficult, but she eventually reached her friend. She was nursing an injured ankle. Ava cursed silently.

"Damn dirt roads and their rocks and uneven paths. I believe it's twisted."

"Can you walk?"

"No, I-"

The two looked up upon hearing a shifting of dirt behind them. In a moment, Sir William and two of his male friends were beside them. William looked at Ava.

"Are you alright, madam? We watched you fall and came right away."

Ava smiled up at them.

"How very kind of you. Actually, I'm having a hard time getting up."

A man with red hair instantly reached out a hand to her and helped her up. Unable to put any weight on her ankle, she fell into his arms, apologizing. The males plus Collette helped Ava up the slope and back onto the path. Reaching Duke, Collette found the horse's reins in the hands of a moderately tall man with short blonde hair. He wore a long yellow coat trimmed with fur and he looked at Collette suspiciously. She turned her face away from him and watched as the red head still held her friend.

"Ava, you can ride on Duke till we can get that ankle taken care of."

A woman with dark brown hair ran up to them and began asking Ava about her ankle. Sir William turned to Collette.

"If you'd like, she can travel in the back of our wagon and our semi-doctor can take a look at her. Right, Roland?"

The other man who had gone down the hill laughed. He was heavier set than the others with a shaved head that barely sprouted brown hair.

"I wouldn't even say "semi", but I could wrap up the ankle and the horse wouldn't jostle her too much."

Collette looked around at the group unsure. Travelling with them would make keeping her secret a lot harder, but Ava looked like she was in a decent amount of pain. She nodded slowly and Sir William smiled at her. He nodded to Roland, who took Ava from the red headed male and led her to the wagon. The knight extended a hand to her.

"I'm Will Thatcher."

Collette smiled.

"I know who you are, Sir William," she responded in a deeper tone than normal.

He laughed and waved a hand at her.

"No need for such formality. We have a two days journey ahead of us so we can all be friends here. This lovely woman here is Kate, I mentioned Roland, the man with your horse is Geoff, and the red head is Wat."

Collette bowed her head at each in turn, respectfully.

"Griffin Hauville. My companion is Ava Faceby."

Will nodded his head.

"Ah, yes! The newest jouster. I hear you are only participating for this year?"

"Yes, we need the money to help Ava's family. It is the least I can do as she had been so good to my younger sister. She is her head maid and best friend. I don't mean to be rude, but maybe we should continue on our way as we talk?"

Will started and agreed before running over to his horse and jumping on it. Collette slowly made her way to the blonde man who handed the reins to her. His face came close to hers making her feel uncomfortable.

"Have you done something with your hair, Sir Griffin. You seem…somewhat different. Lost weight maybe?"

Collette cleared her throat as she got on the horse.

"Uh, I haven't been eating well. Thank you for your concern…Ger-Geor-?

"Geoffry. Geoffry Chaucer…Geoff. The writer."

Collette blinked at him.

"Truly? I've read someone of you work."

He looked up at her in surprise.

"Is that so?"

"Unlike many people, I enjoy finding the hidden meaning behind things. Your writing is quite enjoyable."

He looked up at her curiously but bowed his head to her.

"Thank you…Sir Griffin. You praise me highly for a writer's only wish is to hear such words from any who read their works."

Collette couldn't help but smile. Geoff moved off back to his friends. Kate noticed the look on his face, which was rather unpleasant.

"What's wrong, Geoff?"

"I don't like this…Sir Griffin."

"Why? Because he has actually read your work?"

Geoff made a face at Kate, who just laughed. Collette slowed down to ride beside Will and the large group moved on toward their destination.


	2. Chapter 2

Collette found Will and his friends to be rather enjoyable company. By the time they'd found a place to camp for the night, they were all laughing like good friends. The young noble lady was finding difficult to keep hiding her gender, but she did the best she could and Ava did her best to help. It was obvious to both of them that Wat had gotten a small crush on Ava. She found him charming, something Collette didn't understand. All she could agree to was that he was decent looking and that his obsession with violence was somewhat amusing. The group laughed together as they talked around a fire that Roland and Wat had started together.

"So, Will, your wife isn't travelling with you?" Ava asked.

He smiled bashfully.

"No, she's planning on going to the big one in London. Wouldn't be good for the baby if she came along. Roland's wife Christiana is staying with her of course. Do either of you have…special someone's?"

Ava and Collette exchanged a glance.

"No one special yet," Collette sighed," The right people haven't come along, you know?"

Will and Roland nodded in understanding. Ava looked over at Wat, who was intently staring at her. She grinned.

"So, how did you all meet in the first place? You have quite a large group."

Roland cleared his throat.

"Well, I knew Will since he was a small kid. Both of us squired for Sir Ector and along the way we picked up Wat. After Will decided to join the games we met up with Sir Brooding over there in nothing but what he was born in."

They all turned to look at Geoff. He truly was brooding from his spot beside Kate. Every now and then he'd narrow his eyes at Collette, but she was getting used to it and ignored it.

"And how did that manage to happen?" Collette asked the writer.

He sighed.

"I used to have a gambling problem. It got so bad that I have almost gotten accustomed to people seeing me naked. Where some may find it embarrassing, I feel it is nature's way."

Ava snorted and went into a fit of giggles while Collette just smirked. Roland shook his head and pointed to Kate.

"We met Kate at one of the early tournaments. Will needed some armor and she was the best lady by far. Has her own forge now as well. Damn talented with a hammer this one."

Kate smiled, soaking in the complements.

"Oh, Roland, you flatter me. Now, Griffin, tell us about your family."

Collette thought for a moment before leaning on her knees in a rather masculine way.

"Well…I grew up noble. Riding horses and training with a halberd. I taught my little sister Collette against my mother's will, but our father was quite pleased. It meant that any unwanted males seeking her hand could get run through by her own hands. That scared off a few people though, so the poor dear is well on her way to being an old maid. We have a younger brother as well named Peter. He's seventeen right now."

Geoff raised an eyebrow.

"And your sister?"

"Twenty-seven. Three years younger than me. Peter was rather…unexpected. But our parents married early, so…it happens."

"Uh-huh…"

The look on Geoff's face worried Collette, but Kate nudged him in the ribs. She started scolding him in hushed terms about being antisocial. During that time, Collette excused herself to bed by saying she was tired. Finding a moderately comfortable spot close to Duke, she went to sleep, letting the others stay up and talk.

The rest of the way to the tournament went much the same. They laughed, they asked about each other's lives, and Collette avoided Geoff's suspicious looks. She began to worry that his occupation made it so that he was far too intuitive for his own good. She and Ava to moved toward the registration area when Duke stopped moving in the direction Collette was leading him. Looking down, Collette cringed as Geoff was looked up at her with a hand on the part of the reins closest to Duke's face. She was surprised to see that his expression wasn't so suspicious this time.

"Is Ava your herald?"

Collette blinked at him for a moment. Ava laughed slightly.

"Oh, no. That's…man's job…" the older woman answered.

Geoff looked between the two of them. He gave them a small grin.

"I'd be willing to help for cheap…"

Collette made Duke move his head so Geoff would let go of the reins. She looked over at the registration area.

"I don't need a herald."

The man actually laughed at that, making her glare at him.

"You need someone to get the crowd to like you. You had one for the first part of the tournament and there are only three games left. What happened to him?"

Ava patted Collette on the leg.

"I'm going to get you registered. Be back soon."

They watched her go before the girl in armor sighed and looked down at Geoff.

"Fine. You can do it. My old herald is sick. Thank you, Geoff."

He bowed with a smirk on his face.

"My pleasure. By the way, you may want to tie up your hair. People might mistake you for a girl."

He sauntered off leaving Collette somewhat angered. Luckily for her, that was the correct reaction as any normal man would get angry at having been called a girl. A knight passed by her and shook his head.

"I'd never let my herald talk to me like that."

Collette shrugged at him.

"What can you do? They can get cocky."

The knight smiled at her, nodded, and walked off. Ava ran back to her and they quickly moved off to where Will and the others were getting ready. Will was getting ready for the joust while Collette had to get ready for the halberd competition. Ava sat by Wat and Geoff.

"So…are you sure you can run between Will and Griffin, Geoff?" she asked.

He nodded, choosing not to speak, as he was reading over Griffin's nobility notes. He watched as Collette swung her halberd around once before holding it tightly in her hand.

"I'm ready," she announced.

Ava and Geoff stood up and followed her out to the arena. Geoff gave quite the speech, but Collette had a feeling that there was a sour touch of sarcasm to it. She easily swept all her opponents out of the running and won the halberd competition with ease. She ran to the jousting arena after dropping her halberd off with the rest of her stuff. When she reached Duke and Ava, the look on Ava's face was sympathetic. Collette frowned at her.

"What is it?" she asked, hopping on Duke's back.

Ava began leading Duke to their position.

"You're….facing Will."

Collette sighed heavily, cursing in her mind. She was better off throwing out the white flag, but she wasn't going to walk out on her first shot. She let Ava hand her a lance. She let Geoff give an amusing speech about both her and Will. And then…the game began.


End file.
